


Dance Dance Implications

by AI_Faervel



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Reality, F/F, Implied Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 17:31:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5013658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AI_Faervel/pseuds/AI_Faervel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Volume Two, Chapter 7 alternate reality:</p><p>What if Jaune had chosen to confront Neptune about rejecting Weiss first instead of consoling Pyrrha? </p><p>Some perspectives, multiple decisions, one night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Oblivious One

**Author's Note:**

> As it's an alternate reality there will, of course, be lines borrowed directly from the episode in question or slightly altered lines.
> 
> Inspiration? I've been rewatching RWBY (I mean, who hasn't with the upcoming V3 hype?) and some scenes have stuck out to me with possible alternatives if different choices had been made by the characters. This is the only one I've bothered to write out so far, so enjoy.
> 
> I ship anyone in RWBY with pretty much anyone and everyone (though I do have my favorites), so there are some implied pairings scattered throughout the story. The tagged characters have lines in this fic and others may be mentioned or make appearances, but won't have lines.
> 
> Ratings... yeah, I just don't like to use ratings... but there's nothing explicit or mature in here, except for some light language (or what I think is light language at any rate).

Spying Neptune enjoying himself and laughing with Blake and Sun despite having rejected Weiss, the spark of anger and jealousy in Jaune further flared up. "Hold my punch!" Handing his cup of punch to Ruby, who gracefully accepted it without question or complaint, Jaune moved through the crowded dance floor to berate Neptune for declining to go to the dance with Weiss. Five feet away, he gave pause as he spied Pyrrha going up the stairs, alone, and quite possibly not looking too happy.

It was a split second decision. He was sure Pyrrha was actually enjoying herself and just getting a breath of fresh air. Despite the fame that accompanied her, she didn't really like being around a lot of people, which was why she tended to only hang out with the other members of JNPR or RWBY and was the first person out of class most times. Besides, her date would be far more capable of consoling her than him. And this was his chance to show Weiss that he really cared about her!

Storming over to Neptune, he had half a mind to lecture him right then and there for his actions, but he calmed down enough to realize that causing a scene wasn't doing anyone any favors. Controlling himself, he politely asked to speak to Neptune alone, outside. Sun and Blake had raised eyes at this, but as Neptune cordially agreed to his demands, they didn't press him for an explanation right then and there, but Jaune could feel Blake's eyes on him and he was pretty sure that the other unsettling feeling he was getting was from Sun. He wondered if it had to do with their Faunus heritage and if they could pick up on things because of that or not. Drat. He really should've paid more attention in class.

"Hey, uh... Jaune, right?" asked Neptune, calm and collected as ever.

"Yeah..." sighed Jaune, struggling to not outright yell at Neptune.

"So what'd you want to talk about?" he asked, head swiveling as he met some girl's gaze and smiled at her. "There are some pretty cute girls here, huh?"

It annoyed Jaune to no end that Neptune was so openly flirting with another girl so soon after turning down Weiss, who had sounded genuinely interested in Neptune when she asked him to go to the dance with her. "Is that all you think about?!" snapped Jaune as Neptune smiled at yet another girl heading inside for the dance.

Neptune just gave him a dumbfounded look. "Huh?"

"Do you even care about the girls you're hitting on? How they feel about you?" he continued, giving Neptune a cold, hard, accusatory look. He himself was a little surprised at his own boldness, but this was for Weiss' sake and he wasn't going to back down. Rejecting Weiss because he wasn't interested was one thing, but flirting with her, making her think he was into her, and then rejecting her was another thing altogether.

"Whoa, where's this coming from?!" asked Neptune, clearly confused at Jaune's sudden callousness. This was not the same Jaune he had met in the library or heard about from RWBY.

"How could you just turn her down like that?!" finished Jaune angrily.

"Wait, w-who?" Honestly, the nerve of this guy... He could understand what Weiss had seen in him, but he couldn't understand why she was going to beat herself up over him if he was this much of a jerk! And just how many girls were asking Neptune out to the dance for him to not even remember Weiss asking him? Come on, this was Weiss they were talking about! Weiss Schnee!

"Weiss," answered an exasperated Jaune.

A spark of guilt lit up in his eyes and Neptune became uneasy and avoided Jaune's gaze. "I, uh... it uh... it just didn't work out, you know?" he finally answered, a hand rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"What? You think you're too cool? Too many other options?" Seriously, why did Weiss like someone like Neptune? Of all the girls at the academy Weiss had personally asked him to attend the dance with her. She had pushed aside tradition and her pride to pluck up the nerve to ask him to the dance herself, in person, only to have him refuse. And then he had the nerve to just completely ignore her at the dance and hang out with her teammate like nothing had happened while she pointedly avoided not only him, but her teammate too! Jaune might have been more willing to forgive him and let it slide by if he hadn't so obviously flirted with her the first time they had met in the library--even stealing his line and calling Weiss a "Snow Angel."

Admittedly, he was pretty jealous of Neptune. The guy was more or less everything he wanted to be. He was not only cool, but also smart. He had a way with the ladies and unlike him, he had probably actually earned his spot at Haven, so he was a pretty good fighter to boot. He had managed to win Weiss' affection too, even being able to call her Snow Angel without it somehow being considered an insult. Weiss paid more attention to Neptune in the few days that he'd been around than she had to him all semester. Sure, things in life weren't always fair, but at least he usually knew why. But this? How does anyone justify liking a jerk? What about Neptune had caught Weiss' eye?


	2. The Restless Tides

Neptune couldn't find it in himself to answer Jaune. The guy had every right to be upset with him and honestly... if he were in Jaune's shoes he probably would've done the same thing. "Weiss Schnee asked you to the dance. What in the world could possibly keep you from go--"

"Can't dance!" he squeaked out. It had been the first thing to pop up in his mind and true to himself, he had let it slip out. He wasn't good under pressure and often failed miserably in such situations--socially anyway. Truth be told, he wasn't as "cool" as he made himself out to be. It was an image and an image he worked hard on. Scarlet and Sage were well aware of his forced coolness, but Sun it seemed was thankfully far too Sun to notice or give much thought to it, the lovable dork.

"Beg your pardon?"

"I can't dance, man," continued Neptune, deciding to roll with it. It was half true anyway, so it wasn't like he was completely lying to him. And it seemed effective too. Jaune had finally stopped his barrage of questions and seemed rather taken aback with him.

"But, you're... so... cool," rambled Jaune dumbfoundedly, gesturing to Neptune's overall appearance with his hand.

"Thank you. I try really, really hard," admitted Neptune.

"You would rather break a girl's heart, and go to a dance alone, than just admit to everyone that you can't move in rhythm to music?"

It was a split second decision. When Jaune put it so bluntly like that, and the fact that he was friends with Weiss and was probably going to tell her this, it sounded pretty lame and cruel. Okay, incredibly lame and cruel. Really, really cruel. "No..."

"What?"

Taking in a deep breath, he built up as much courage as he could. "Look, you're clearly a good friend." He really was. There was something about Jaune that made him feel like he could trust in the guy, and that if they got to spend more time together they might actually end up as best friends. They'd just gotten off on the wrong foot.

"Where are you going with this...?"

"So I can trust you, right?" asked Neptune, choosing to ignore Jaune's question for the moment or else risking what little courage he had right now. Jaune stared at him questioningly before slowly nodding. "You promise you won't tell anyone?"

Jaune seemed to be considering it for a moment and Neptune was about to give up and regret coming clean with him when Jaune let out a sigh and nodded. "Yeah, I promise. What's the real reason behind you turning down Weiss?"

"I-I like someone else." There. He had said it. And damn, it sure felt great to get it off his chest. Sun might not think he was good at keeping secrets, but when it came really important stuff, he could keep his mouth shut. The fact that Sun didn't know was proof enough of that.

"Who?"

Neptune shifted uncomfortably. "I'd rather not say." He really didn't want to. He had his reasons for keeping his crush a secret. At first he had been inclined to come completely clean with Jaune, but in the end he couldn't. He still couldn't be completely honest with himself, much less a stranger--a new friend. Jaune gave him a long, hard look and Neptune found himself avoiding his gaze yet again. "Look, if you want Weiss, she's all yours. I don't want to get in your way." That was quite possibly the most honest thing he had said to Jaune all night and it made him feel even worse.

"Does she know?"

"Weiss? No."

Shaking his head Jaune clarified. "The girl you actually like."

"I don't think so... Actually I'm pretty sure that, uh, _she_ doesn't even know I like her as more than a friend," he explained.

"But you like her," pointed out Jaune.

Neptune nodded. "... She's... pretty cool."

"Then just go talk to her. No pick up lines, no suave moves. Just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go," advised Jaune, the annoyance in his tone dropping.

"Yeah, but--"

"Hey, you don't have to act cool all the time. In all honesty if you could be a little less cool, I'd really appreciate it."

The annoyance in his voice was spiking back up again, and he had reason to, but the problem was that it was more complicated than what Jaune made it out be. "Yeah... okay," he muttered, not able to muster up the courage to properly explain the situation. "Thanks. You're a really cool guy, Jaune. I'll talk to Weiss, clear things up with her."

"Alright, don't lie to my face,"sighed Jaune, accepting his offer of making amends by returning his fist bump.

He left Jaune outside to go back inside and look for Weiss. Jaune had a point and he was right. He was acting like a jerk and the least he could do was apologize to Weiss and give her some kind of explanation... even if it was going to be half true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really like how this chapter turned out either, but it did what I wanted it to, I guess.
> 
> EDIT: Yes, I've changed up the order of the fic. Originally it was just supposed to be three chapters long, but then, well... it wound up becoming five and considering how everything goes, I felt like this would give it a better flow.


	3. The Wildfire

Spying her sister by the punch bowl, Yang sighed and strode over to her. "Ruby." Ruby stiffened and made to escape, but with the table in the way and the throng of people on the dance floor, any and all exits available to her were cut off. Groaning, Ruby turned to face her sister who had already made it there. "What are you doing?"

"Having punch," replied Ruby, as if it should be obvious to her.

Yang crossed her arms and frowned at her younger sister. She had been hoping that maybe, just maybe, Ruby would be asked to dance tonight. Her sister looked absolutely adorable in her dress, coupled with her shy nervousness at having to dress up and wear heels, it only made her that much more adorable. How any guy, or girl for that matter, could resist Ruby tonight was beyond Yang. Heck, if they weren't sisters she probably would've asked her for a dance and maybe even flirted a little. "This is a dance, Ruby. Dance."

"I can't dance, and you know that," retorted Ruby, sipping her punch. "Besides, I said I'd come, I never said anything about dancing!" She lifted up the other cup of punch in her hand and drank from it too.

She decided to ignore the fact that her sister had two cups of punch and was standing next to the punch bowl for the time being. She could ask about it later. "It was implied you'd dance."

"Well I never said I would, so I'm not. I can barely walk in these shoes anyway."

"They're called heels."

"Evil lady stilts."

"..." Sighing, Yang looked around for Jaune. She knew her sister quite well; she wouldn't ask anyone to dance, but if someone asked her to she might be more inclined to agree to just one dance. And Jaune was the perfect guy to ask to do her dirty work for her. He wouldn't take advantage of Ruby or read into her request. He'd just assume she was being a big sister taking care of her younger sister by forcing her to live a little. "Where's Jaune?"

"I dunno. We were talking about Weiss and Neptune and then he just took off. I'm his punch guard," explained Ruby, silver-gray eyes nodding towards the second cup in her hands.

Well. That explained some things. "How is Weiss doing anyway?" asked Yang, curious as to how the vexing heiress was doing after getting rejected. Yang still didn't know very much about Weiss, but judging by the way she had come back to their room that night and promptly gone to bed she hadn't taken the rejection very well. The next day she had acted like nothing had ever happened, as if she had expected Neptune's refusal and had only asked him to be nice, him being an exchange student and all. She had sorely insisted that she was too busy and didn't have time for boys and that it was actually a good thing that Neptune didn't want to go to the dance with her. They had all prepared for the dance, but Weiss was strangely too into prepping herself and Ruby to be considered normal. That aside, her snarky comments and jaded comebacks held far less bite to them than normal too. She was most certainly not okay with what had happened between her and Neptune, but no one on the team was going to push her for a heart to heart talk about it quite yet. Yang had been in and out of enough relationships to know that it'd be better if Weiss came to them first.

Ruby shrugged. "I dunno..." Yang's eyes didn't miss Ruby's tentative glance towards the white haired heiress. Her little sister's actions certainly called for some scheming, but now wasn't the time. "She's been pretending to be busy with party preparations."

"Ah," nodded Yang, glancing towards Ruby's line of sight and seeing Weiss rearrange some flowers that definitely didn't need the attention. "Why don't you go talk to her?"

"W-What?!" balked Ruby.

"Weellll, you are the team leader. It's kind of your job to make sure we're all okay, right?" asked Yang, remembering when Ruby had first talked to her about Blake's downward spiral and how she wasn't sure how to handle it and had wound up letting Weiss address the problem with her indecisiveness.

"Well... yeah..." mumbled Ruby quietly. "But... What if Weiss just turns me away like Blake did with us?"

Ah, so that's what was bothering her sister. "It'll be fine. Just don't bring up Neptune. I'm pretty sure Weiss doesn't actually want to be alone right now. Remember when we were kids? You used to get mad at me and dad all the time, saying you wanted to be alone, but you never did want to be left alone, did you? You always went and wrapped yourself up in mom's cloak."

Ruby flushed with embarrassment. "N-No I didn't!" Nevertheless, Ruby set down Jaune's cup of punch and got another one and made her way over to Weiss.

All that was left was to find Jaune and get him to do her bidding to treat Ruby like a princess for a few minutes tonight. . . . . . well, she hoped he could do that much. In all honesty, the more she thought about it, the more likely it was that her plan would fall apart. Jaune was... well... Jaune. He probably couldn't even dance to save his life. Maybe she ought to ask Ren, or Sun even. Ren was quiet, but she believed in his footwork more than she did Jaune's despite not having seen him dance yet. And Sun... well, he was doing a good job with Blake and he wasn't doing anything too racy, so he was probably a pretty good choice. But she didn't want to take him away from Blake tonight. She needed the night off and Sun was good for that. He was a nice distraction. Sort of. If she liked tall, blonde, and muscled. Not that she was saying there was someone else who would've been purfect for distracting her tonight and making sure she had a good time, platonicly or romantically--if she wanted to get romantic that is--with the same sort of characteristics as Sun.

As she combed the dance floor for Jaune, she instead found Pyrrha. The red head was unmistakable and the vivid red dress she wore only made her stand out even more. Stunning as she was, the glum expression on her face and slight frown didn't match up.

It was a split second decision. She didn't have to think twice. As she climbed up the stairs, Yang hurried after her. She met Blake's gaze for an instant and gave her a small, reassuring smile. She'd check up on Pyrrha, no worries. At the top of the stairs, she looked both ways and saw no sign of Pyrrha. She doubted the young woman was just strolling about on the second floor, watching the other students. It only left one other option: the balcony. "Hey, Pyrrha."

"Hello Yang," responded Pyrrha quietly, turning around to face her for a brief moment and acknowledge her entrance before turning right back around and looking out at Beacon.

"You okay? I haven't seen you tonight," asked Yang, moving to stand next to her and fully taking her in. Underneath the moonlight and stars Pyrrha was even more stunning. Her dress was long and simple and she wore no other accessories other than her usual headdress, but it went with the dress nicely. Her hair was tied up as usual, but she could tell that Pyrrha hadn't taken up her usual care due to all the stray hairs sticking out and escaping the hair tie. Pyrrha had tried to smile, but the forced smile couldn't hide the dejected look in her mesmerizing emerald eyes that were full of nothing but hurt and disappointment. 

"Arrived late, I'm afraid." The explanation was half assed and she knew it, but Yang didn't push for a clearer one.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to come anyway. What do you think of me and Weiss' handiwork?" asked Yang, hoping to cheer her up a little simply by being a little more upbeat and hoping the distracting conversation would help her relax. It seemed that wouldn't do the trick. Whatever was bothering Pyrrha, it was something serious. She briefly wondered if it'd be better to go find Ren and Nora to help her out, or Jaune.

She was slow to answer. "You guys did a great job." The words were complimentary, but her tone was void of conviction. 

They stood side by side for awhile, just staring out across the campus on the balcony together. Leaning against the railing, Yang continued to watch as other latecomers welcomed themselves to the party. She was supposed to be greeting them, but she was sure no one would mind and if Weiss really cared that much about greeting all of the party attendees, she could do it herself for awhile. Everyone seemed to be having a good time or enjoying themselves, if the lack of people leaving the party was any indicator.

Pushing herself away from the railing, she glanced over at Pyrrha. "What's wrong Pyrrha?" she asked, voice low and gentle. "I promise I won't tell anyone." She usually didn't like to pry and gave people their space, but in this case, prying might be the better option. Pyrrha was clearly upset about something and seemed to be bottling it up inside of her instead of letting it out. Yang knew from experience that bottling things up tended to lead to disastrous results. To be honest, she was surprised that Jaune wasn't here cheering her up. 

"Nothing's wrong," replied Pyrrha, leaning against the railing, her arms folded up on top of the smooth, stone railing. "I just needed some fresh air." Her finger tips tapped the top gently as she continued to avoid looking directly at Yang and distracted herself with the floating clouds in the night sky and broken moon.

Crossing her arms and leaning back against the railing, Yang shrugged. "Okay." Back against the railing, she tipped her head up and gazed up at the sky. Patience wasn't exactly the best tool in her arsenal, but it wasn't something she was completely incapable of performing. She was a flirt and popular with guys and girls alike, but it wasn't just because of her looks. She had helped raised Ruby, to a point, but it seemed like a lot of people tended to forget that. Sure, she and Ruby were two years apart, but Summer had left when Ruby was still a little kid and their dad had taken the loss pretty badly, the woman being the second love of his life and all. She had wanted to cry and shut herself in her room all day long too, but someone needed to make breakfast (even if it was just cereal) and get everyone ready for the day (even if it meant having to wear a wrinkled shirt and ugly tie). She shouldn't have had to grow up a little so quickly, but she had and nothing could change that. It wasn't something she regretted, not really, and had learned to embrace and make use of.

Pyrrha's breath hitched for a moment and her tapping came to a halt. "Nobody asked me..." she murmured silently.

"How could nobody ask you?!" sputtered Yang before she could stop herself as she abruptly turned to gawk at Pyrrha. Pyrrha was drop dead gorgeous, sure, but she was also pretty smart, not to mention the nicest person she had ever met who wasn't already a part of her family. She cared immensely for the people closest to her and she still did her best to help those who weren't. Oh sure, she was famous and all that, but she didn't flaunt it around in people's faces or used it to her advantage at all. That's what she liked about Pyrrha.

A flash of anger crossed her emerald eyes as she turned to face her. "Everyone assumes I'm too good for them; that I'm on a level that simply can't be attained when I was just blessed with incredible opportunities. It's become impossible to form any--"

"It's not impossible," interrupted Yang. "Sure, I know you're Pyrrha Nikos, four time champion of the Mistral Regional Tournament, but that's not why I like you and I never thought that about you."

"W... What?" asked Pyrrha, taken aback by Yang's fierceness and bluntness.

"I like you because you're one of the kindest people I know. You care so much about the people around you that you forget to care about yourself." Aw, to hell with it. Might as well come clean. "And when I said I liked you, it's not just as a friend."

Blinking Pyrrha processed the meaning behind her words. "I... I had no idea... But... you didn't think of me like that at first did you?"

Grinning Yang nodded, causing Pyrrha's face to dip in disappointment. "Hey." Taking hold of Pyrrha's hands, she got her attention. "My first impression of you? 'That girl is hot.' I didn't even register that you were Pyrrha until I got past your mesmerizing emerald eyes, brilliant red hair, and toned body. That's when I realized I at least had a name to your pretty face."

"Wait..."

"I was going to talk to you, but Ruby was having some problems. As her older sister I couldn't just abandon her like that. Besides, you looked like you were pretty busy with Weiss too, so I figured I'd just introduce myself later," continued Yang, on a roll and not hearing Pyrrha's voice. "I got to know you through Jaune and Ruby, and for that I'll be forever grateful to them, otherwise I probably would've blown it and you'd have written me off as some shameless play girl not worth a second of your day."

"W-Wait... WAIT!" shouted Pyrrha, abruptly, pulling away from Yang. Blinking, Yang sheepishly let her hands fall to her side and bit her tongue as she waited for Pyrrha to talk. "You... like me?"

"Yeah."

"... ... ... I... what...?"

"I like you," repeated Yang, beaming.

"B-But it sounds like you're... you're... you're..." 

"Confessing my feelings for you? Yeah."

"..." 

Yang quickly put two and two together as Pyrrha's face slowly became flushed. "You... didn't know I was bi, did you?" Hands covering her face now, Pyrrha meekly nodded. "Ahh... well. There you have it. I'm bi. I like you. If you don't like me back the same way, it's cool." She waited a few moments, but it seemed Pyrrha was too shell shocked for words. "I would've totally hit on you and asked you out sooner, but you were friends with Jaune and Jaune is friends with Ruby and I figured that she ought to be able to have some friends here."

"W-Why would that matter?" asked Pyrrha, finally beginning to get a hold of herself. "I mean, just because I rejected you wouldn't mean she couldn't hang out with us..."

Yang raised an eye at her. "Soooo, if I had, oh I dunno... professed my feelings to you through song, probably in the halls on your way to class you wouldn't have been thoroughly embarrassed or assumed Ruby was just as crazy as me? And that's just one of the wildly romantic ideas I had. One of my other ideas involved hijacking the school's comms."

"You may have a point..." conceded Pyrrha. "Why would you go to such lengths though? I mean, this is rather mild compared to what you had intended."

Laughing, Yang nodded. "Yeah, I suppose this is pretty tame compared to some of the ideas I had. I guess... it's because you're Pyrrha." She saw Pyrrha's face begin to darken again and quickly explained herself. "I figured plenty of people would've tried asking you out already and I'd have to do something pretty extravagant to get your attention and be worth remembering. I didn't want to be another faceless kid on your list of 'number of people who asked me out today'. I wanted you to remember me. If you remembered me, for better or for worse, it'd be easier to get closer to you and maybe worm my way into your heart to give me a chance."

"Oh." She was quiet for a moment before continuing. "I... I never thought about it that way," she admitted.

Yang just grinned. "Hey, it's okay. Now that I've gotten to know you, it's been pretty clear that if I wanted to get your attention the only competition I'd have would be Jaune, but seeing as he's pretty damn clueless about how you feel, my chances were good."

"You know?!" she asked, wide eyed with shock. Pyrrha's expression was pretty easy to read and Yang guessed that she had thought that only Ren and Nora knew about her feelings for Jaune.

Yang just waved a hand at her and laughed it off in a friendly manner. "Pyrrha, I'm pretty sure everyone knows by now. It's probably why no one asked you." Pyrrha's head snapped up at this. "Everyone probably thought you and Jaune were going together," shrugged Yang absently. "We figured you two would go together too. If we had known... we'd have done some meddling too."

"Too?"

"Sun and Blake," answered Yang softly.

"Oh..." Silence fell over them and Pyrrha willingly broke it first for once that night. "Why... Why didn't you tell me sooner?" It seemed the news about her sexuality had come as a big surprise and she was slowly getting used to the idea, but Yang didn't hold it against her. It was understandable for her to not be so accepting and understanding right away.

"Hmm?" drawled Yang, hoping she could be a little clearer with her question.

"You said that your only competition was Jaune and that your chances were good, so why didn't you ever... make a move?" She was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that Pyrrha seemed a little uncomfortable about this, but seeing as Pyrrha wasn't trying to make a run for it or acting like it was the end of the world, Yang supposed that she coming to terms with it and that this was likely the first time she had ever had to come face to face with the fact that there were also girls who wanted to bed her alongside of guys.

"Oh, that. Well, it's kind of hard to get someone to like you when they already like someone else, so I figured I'd just give up on it unless you ever gave me reason to believe we had a chance," explained Yang. "Though if you must know, you're one of the few people who's really gotten my attention."

"Do you mind if I ask who some of these other people are?"

"I'll just say that once it was someone at Signal and the other time is with someone here at Beacon," answered Yang. "There have been plenty of other guys and girls in between though, just... nothing serious."

"Who's your date tonight?" 

Grinning, Yang turned to face her and took her hand. She had been hoping Pyrrha would ask her that. "Care to be my date, Miss Nikos?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I took some liberties with Yang's past love life. Cry me a river for doing so.
> 
> I feel like this didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to... but I can't get any more rewrites that feel remotely as good as this one.


	4. The Warrior Goddess

She suddenly became self conscious of her appearance. Perhaps she should have taken more care in her looks when she had flimsily decided to go to the dance after all, despite not being asked to go by Jaune even though she had heavily dropped hints to him that no one had asked her yet and that she really wanted to go with him. The news that Yang was into girls too was certainly shocking, and it was a little unsettling that she was an object of Yang's affection, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Honestly, she had never thought about it before. Things had been pretty simple before her arrival at Beacon. Train, study, and fight. Her parents had been supportive of her at first, but as continued to gain fame they had lost sight of her best interests and were focusing more so on the perks that came with being the Pyrrha Nikos' parents. She hadn't had many, well... any, friends before Beacon either. The only reason she had chose to attend Beacon over Haven was because going to Haven would mean being surrounded by fans.

Yes, Beacon had its fair share of fans too, but their faces were unfamiliar and she could pretend they weren't life long fans. At Haven she would've seen faces she'd grown up with all her life... the steadfast fans who had come to all of her matches and events, old classmates who wouldn't be able to stop themselves from saying they'd gone to the same school as her, and forth.

It was a split second decision. "I..." she started only to fall silent. She didn't really want to say 'yes' because that would mean accepting Yang's feelings, wouldn't it? On the other hand she didn't want to say 'no' simply because Yang was a girl. She had never thought about girls in this fashion before, but now that Yang had planted the idea into her head, she couldn't quite shake off the feeling that maybe she ought to give girls a chance. But it wasn't fair to use Yang like that, or anyone really, was it? 

"It doesn't have to be an actual date-date or anything unless you want it to be. Just one dance would be fine, right?"

"Yeah... I-I mean, no!" Yang was half right. She was a little intimidated with the idea of being romantically involved with Yang openly, in front of their peers, but that wasn't really why she was a little apprehensive about saying 'yes' to her right now. She wasn't at her best. Yang and Weiss had put in a lot of hard work towards making the dance as enjoyable as possible and here she was... same old hair style, same old headpiece, no make up, glum expression, and a bummed out attitude. Just wearing a dress didn't count as dressing up, did it? No effort into her appearance at all when Yang had put in her best efforts to organize the party and even get Blake, who'd been having a pretty rough month or so, to come too despite so vehemently refusing to go mere days ago.

Startled, she felt Yang's hands on her own again. "Pyrrha, you're beautiful, just the way you are. Stray hairs, make-up less and all." She could feel her breath catching in her throat at Yang's words. How was this woman able to see through her so easily? "We don't have to go back in there if you don't want to. The music's faint, but it's loud enough to dance to out here." The beautiful, busty blonde brawler's blazonly brilliant beam at her easily settled and calmed her.

It was unfair of her to expect Jaune to be her hero. Maybe she ought to take a page out of Yang's book and give up on him until he gave her reason to believe he'd give them a chance. He was just as hopelessly in love with Weiss as she was with him. She liked him because he treated her like everyone else since he didn't see her as _the_ Pyrrha Nikos and only as Pyrrha. Her affection for him had blinded her to the feelings of others. Yang was exactly what Jaune was. She saw her as Pyrrha and just Pyrrha, but unlike Jaune... she had some level of feelings for her. Maybe she ought to give Yang a chance...?

"Tears don't suit you. If I had known you were coming alone, I would've definitely asked you to be my date sooner," murmured Yang, one hand still firmly holding onto hers while the other brushed away the tears that had welled up in the corners of her eyes. "Care to dance?"

"No." Yang's hands fell, but Pyrrha quickly took hold of them. "I... I don't mean I don't accept your feelings... I... I just... I don't want to dance." Wait, that wasn't quite right. She needed to be very clear about this. "I mean... I don't know how I feel about you... but... I feel like I can't dance right now, even if it's just as friends."

"Oh." It didn't take her long to wrap her arms about her in a comfortable embrace. "This is fine too, if that's what you want instead."

"It is," nodded Pyrrha, relaxing in Yang's arms. It really wasn't all that weird. Sure... it's a bit different than what she thought her romantic hug would be like... but not in a bad way. It's kind of nice. Yang is soft and warm, her hug is definitely comforting. She wonders if she's given these same hugs to Ruby before and is why she's so good at them. She wants to bury her head into Yang's shoulders, but when she starts to do so, she realizes she's taller than Yang and can't help but laugh.

She's surprised when she hears Yang laughing too, but then again, the woman has figured out a lot of things for herself and knows her pretty well to boot, so maybe she's already figured out why. "Maybe if you step out of your heels this'll be a little less awkward," chuckles Yang. "If I'm still too short, I can try sitting on the railing." She's still laughing when she nods and slips out of her heels. She drops a few inches, but overall, she's still a tad bit too tall to comfortably bury herself into Yang's shoulder. "We can try the railing then."

She catches Yang's hand as she moves towards the railing and shakes her head lightly. "It's fine. Maybe a dance wouldn't be so bad after all," she smiles and this time it's genuine. Yang's probably the best hugger she's ever known, and maybe some day she'll know what it's like to fully give in to her embraces, but for tonight she's already done enough.

"You sure?"

"Yes," nodded Pyrrha. "I'm still not quite sure about a proper relationship yet... but a dance sounds grand."

"Then let's make our grand entrance." They're at the bottom of the stairs when Yang pulls her down and whispers into her ear. "And if you ever need to borrow a shoulder, you can call me anytime. I'll make sure to wear extra tall heels next time." She wonders if Yang knows just how much her words mean to her. She wants to thank her, but her she can't bring herself to say those two simple words because they don't seem like enough of a thank you for all that Yang's done tonight. "There's no need to go to great lengths to thank me. Consider this dance a 'thank you,' Pyrrha."

Pyrrha blinks in surprise. She's got better friends than she thought she did. Yang lets her go and she returns the smile. "Thank you." Yang's gentle smile just widens and she holds out a hand for her. Pyrrha doesn't hesitate to take it and lets herself be pulled towards the dance floor, quite possibly the happiest she's been all night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meh. There are some things I like about this chapter and there are some things I don't, but overall I like this chapter the most, especially towards the end there. And yes, I'm still taking some liberties with the characters. It's fanfiction. What do you expect?
> 
> I do apologize if this seems very un-Pyrrha like. As much as I like Pyrrha, I find that writing her is difficult for me. Yang too, actually, but... I feel like I have more of an affinity for Yang than I do for Pyrrha even if I can relate to Pyrrha more than Yang, lol.


	5. The Only One

Even after talking to Weiss and trying to boost her mood, Ruby had been unable to do much else other than get her to at least talk to some of the other dateless guests and stop fretting over the decorations. It was a feat worth celebrating considering how upset Weiss was, but to Ruby it was hardly a victory. Weiss was still just putting on fake smiles and pretending to be happy.

It was kind of strange how they had all gone to such great lengths to make Blake come to the party and enjoy herself when none of them were really enjoying the party. Deciding that there wasn't much else she could do by being at the party, Ruby started to head for the entrance, looking to retire early for the night without her teammates only to run into Neptune. She glared at him and he gave her a nervous smile. "You know, you--"

"I know."

"Huh?"

"Where's Weiss? I owe her an apology and an explanation. You have every right to be upset with me too, but you can give me a lecture after I talk to Weiss."

Ruby warily eyed him for a moment longer, but his words were sincere and he really did look sorry for everything he'd done. "She's over there," pointed out Ruby. Neptune gazed out across the dance floor towards the other side of the wall where all the windows were and quickly spied Weiss.

"Thanks."

"Wait." Neptune froze.

"Yeah?"

"Who else gave you a lecture?"

"... Jaune. He's still outside, I think." Without further ado, he made off to talk to Weiss before someone else could get her attention and try to convince her into letting having a dance with them.

Surprised, Ruby went outside to look for Jaune and thank him. It didn't take her long to find him. "Hey Jaune."

He seemed startled to find her there with him, but muttered a hello back. "Oh, hey Ruby..."

"What's got you so down?" Was anybody _other_ than Blake enjoying themselves at this party?

"Oh, you know, the usual..." grunted Jaune. "Hey, Ruby, you're Weiss' partner, right?" Ruby just gave him an exasperated look. "Right... um... I guess what I'm trying to say is... um... ugh... Do you... Do you think I have a chance with Weiss?"

"Jaune..." started Ruby, pursing her lips.

"Sorry, sorry. I know, we agreed we wouldn't talk about me and Weiss. It's just that I really like her and I wish she'd give me a chance is all. I mean, she gave Neptune a chance, didn't she? Why won't she give me the same chance?" sighed Jaune.

"You know... if you really want to know, you ought to ask her yourself. Jaune, you were brave enough to fight that Ursa all by yourself. You're definitely brave enough to confront Weiss about this." Ruby didn't know much about romance, and it was why she had made Jaune promise not to ask her for help with Weiss, but seeing him like this was just too much. "You can keep asking all of us for advice all you want, but none of us are Weiss. We don't know the answer any better than you do."

She might not know anything about romance, but Yang made something very clear to her once she had hit puberty: if she liked someone and wanted to know if they liked her too, the best way to go about it was to just be honest and ask the person she liked, and then if she wanted advice for anything after that, she ought to ask her instead of dad. But that last tidbit probably wasn't worth sharing with Jaune.

"Ah... I guess you're right. Thanks Ruby."

Smiling, Ruby shook her head. "It's the least I could do. You went through a lot of trouble for Weiss' sake. I heard from Neptune," she explained as Jaune started to ask her how she had known.

"Well, is there anything I can do to help you out?" asked Jaune, standing up straighter and smiling back at her. "This is supposed to be a party after all, and it doesn't look like you're having fun either."

"Neither is Pyrrha. Is she okay?" asked Ruby, remembering Pyrrha's entrance earlier. Yang had been fulfilling her promise to Blake about being her first dance and Weiss had to go help with something related to the party so they had left her in charge of welcoming guests. Pyrrha had barely acknowledged her and hadn't even said hello. She had wanted to run after her, but one of the professors had just came and was talking ot her so it'd have been rude of her to just leave. The last time she had seen Pyrrha was when she started to go upstairs and it looked like Jaune had followed after her.

But Jaune's surprised answer said otherwise. "What?! What's wrong with Pyrrha? Do I need to have a talk with her date too?" demanded Jaune angrily.

"What are you talking about? Pyrrha came alone. I thought you knew that, being her partner and all."

"What? How's that possible? I'm sure you just missed her date is all."

"No... She came alone and she wasn't excited about it all either. I greeted her at the door and she didn't even say 'hi' to me." She watched as Jaune's expression changed from disbelief to guilt and then determination. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?!" called out Ruby as Jaune started to make a break for it.

"To find a dress!" called back Jaune, disappearing into the night.

". . ." She wondered if the punch had been spiked or if Jaune had been drugged on something. Shaking her head in disbelief, she considered going after him to make sure if he was alright. She had misheard him, right? There was no way Weiss would've let anyone spike the punch. She'd been around the punch bowl for half the night too. Then again... _Yang_ would let people spike it and she had shooed her off after finding her at the punch bowl... Five minutes later he was back and most definitely in a dress. "Uh... Jaune..."

"I told Pyrrha if she didn't have a date to the dance I'd wear a dress. I don't think this will make up for me neglecting her, but it'll cheer her up, right?" explained Jaune, modeling the dress for her. She wanted to know where and how Jaune had managed to get his hands on a dress his size so soon, but no words could formulate such a question coherently.

Ruby had thought she had seen it all, but clearly she had not. Far too stunned for words, she just nodded lightly as Jaune entered the hall, laughter quickly following suit. This night was just getting more and more bizarre. A movement at the corner of her eye caught her attention and she quickly shifted her gaze. Yep. The night was just getting more and more bizarre, but this... this was something that was more her style. 

It was a split second decision. Hurrying after the silhouette she had seen, she punched in her coordinates so she could retrieve Crescent Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. I'm well aware that Ruby's decision did not change in this at all. But hey, she's making a decision as a Huntress in training, not some teenager in love!


	6. The Ice Prin--Heiress

She supposed that overall tonight had been a success. The party had gone off without much of a hitch. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Blake had come to the party after all and looked like she was having the time of her life with Sun. Watching the two of them probably wasn't very healthy for her because it just reminded her of Neptune and how she thought he liked her too only to find out he wasn't interested.

Weiss had tried talking to some of the other party guests and giving them a chance, but she was still a little too hung up over Neptune to really enjoy herself and they had all quickly backed off. She'd been preoccupying herself with making everything overly perfect, but it was no good.

Admittedly, things had gotten a lot better with Ruby around, annoying as she was, but she could tell that Ruby didn't want to be here either and wound up feigning annoyance to drive her away. To her disappointment it had worked and Ruby had left, probably to get some air and head back to their room. Honestly, she wanted to go back to their room too. But as one of the event planners and hostesses, it would be unsightly of her to do so, even if no one would notice her leaving this late into the party.

She looked up and stared as a collective amount of 'oo's' and 'aw's' hit the air. Yang and Pyrrha were at the foot of one of the stairs and headed towards the dance floor, already beginning to dance. It was a slow song, but they were dancing anyway and they were absolutely flawless even if Pyrrha had done little more than slip into a dress. She caught herself staring and quickly looked away. She had been able to tolerate Blake and Yang's dance because it had been pretty platonic, but Yang and Pyrrha were clearly not dancing as just friends. It was just so... so... so _wrong_. Two girls together romanticly? She might have had her suspicioins about Yang, but she had never pegged Pyrrha to be... .... ... one of _them_. She was in love with Jaune, wasn't she...?

"Weiss."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Weiss looked up. "N-Neptune...?" What was he doing here?!

One hand behind his neck, he gave her a sheepish smile. "Ah, do you mind if I sit here?" he gestured towards the empty chair next to her and Weiss slowly nodded, not quite believing it. She tried to pay him attention, but her thoughts kept straying back to Yang Pyrrha. Was Ruby possibly ... ... ... like Yang too? "Um... Weiss?" started Neptune for the upteenth time. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh... Sorry. I'm just really distracted right now. Yang and Pyrrha..."

Neptune followed her line of sight and nodded. "I had no idea they were lesbians, or are they bisexual? Pansexual...? I don't want to think of them with the wrong label and call them something they're not."

P-Pansexual? "Uh..."

But Neptune didn't seem to notice her uneasiness. "It's great that you guys are so supportive of each other that they're comfortable enough to be out like this." Suddenly she felt horrible. Why did she always have to be so quick to judge people and label them?! It's not like she meant to... it just happened. "Ah, anyway, I came over here to tell you why I rejected you. It's kind of embarrassing, really," laughed Neptune good-naturedly.

Pushing aside her worries, she turned her full attention onto Neptune. "You don't have to explain why..."

"I'm also here to apologize for how I treated you. I was a jerk and I'm sorry for that," apologized Neptune, drawing up one leg and letting it rest across his knee. "You deserve to know the truth."

Suddenly, laughter erupted across the dance floor. The both of them jumped slightly at the sudden noise and looked up to see Jaune, of all people, in a fitted white dress standing in the middle of the dance floor in front of Pyrrha and Yang.

"Jaune?" asked Pyrrha as Yang turned her around and she caught sight of him.

"Eh, a promise is a promise," shrugged Jaune, a sheepish, apologetic smile on his face.

Laughing, Pyrrha barely managed to voice anything coherent. "Jaune, you didn't have to!"

"Hey! An Arc never goes back on his word. Now do you want to stand there and laugh at me or do you wanna dance?" asked Jaune, holding out a hand for her and not looking the least bit embarrassed.

Pyrrha glanced down at Yang and was met with a smile. "I would love to dance," she smiled, taking his hand. "Oh!" she squealed as Jaune quickly pulled her in with expert ease. Jaune's moves completely mind blew everyone except Ren and Nora who quickly joined them for a small group performance, much to everyone's enjoyment, before dancing with their partner.

Now Weiss was really confused. "So, what made you change your mind?" asked Weiss as Jaune's mind blowing skills slowly wore off on her.

"Huh?" mumbled Neptune, still entranced by Jaune.

"You said you were embarrassed at first. What made you come talk to me?" continued Weiss, adding some clarification.

"You're lookin' at him," explained Neptune, half of his attention still on Jaune as he nodded towards the dance floor. Weiss stared at the guy who had been unyieldingly chasing after her all semester, despite her refusal at every act because he was, quite honestly, one of the lamest guys she had ever met. "You've got some good friends looking out for you." Weiss had never really considered Jaune a friend--an acquaintance through Ruby, yes, but friend?

Maybe she ought to cut him some slack. He wasn't as lame as she thought he was after all; and if anything, he could dance circles around all of them. "How did Jaune convince you talk to me?" pressed Weiss, unable to believe that Jaune had managed to coerce Neptune into explaining himself to her.

"He talked some sense into me. He's pretty cool." Weiss raised an eye at him and he laughed. "Really, he is. You're lucky to have a guy like him around." Weiss was inclined to disbelieve him, but he sounded sincere and when Jaune looked over at her and waved a hand at her she doubted it even more before realizing the wave had been aimed at Neptune, who had returned it with a smile.

"So why did you... say no?"

"Oh... that. Well, uh, it's because I like someone else... Sorry for leading you on like that," explained Neptune, a little strained.

"Oh..." That wasn't quite the answer she was hoping for, in reality she didn't even know what kind of answer she wanted, but she wished it was something else--even if it was as silly as him not being able to dance. "Well... thank you for telling me the truth."

"Yeah, no problem. Thank Jaune. He's the one who deserves the thanks, not me." He had sounded confident enough, but his body language said otherwise. Weiss frowned. Neptune wasn't telling her something. Years of having to endure socio-political lessons and attending such gatherings at her father's behest had honed her observational skills to a formidable level. But Neptune was hardly a friend. He was more of an acquaintance than anything, all things considered. It wasn't fair or right of her to demand anything from him.

It was a split second decision. "What are you hiding?" she asked. As much as she wanted to change and tone down her... Schneeness, she was still a Schnee and some things would never change. "You're not telling me everything." Gathering all the nervousness and doubt inside of her, she exhaled and imagined them leaving her with that release of carbon dioxide. "You said I deserved to know the truth." This was probably why she didn't have many friends, okay any _real_  friends other than RWBY or JNPR.

Neptune looked at her for a moment and she was sure he was going to just get up and leave--she wouldn't blame him. She was prying into things that ultimately had nothing to do with her and Neptune was entitled to his secrets. In the end, he did stand up. She looked away and willed herself to not cry. Neptune was _not_ worth her tears. She barely knew the guy.

To her utter surprise Neptune leaned down and whispered a few words into her ear. Weiss paled as she processed his words. It was unbelievable! How could she... How did that... Why was... How could he?! "But if you don't mind, we can still dance. I'm not much of a formal dancer though..." offered Neptune, standing back up and holding out a hand for her. She wanted to decline and tell him she never wanted to talk to him again, but... But despite her guilt-tripping him into telling her the truth, he had told her the truth and was still willing to be friends with her. The only other person who had done that was Ruby, but that was probably because she still saw the world through child lenses. She hesitated at first, but wound up taking his hand. So what if he wasn't into her romantically? He was still a nice guy and interested in being friends with her. Tonight had been miserable enough as it was, the least she could do was try to enjoy herself.

Damn it, where was Ruby when she needed her? Sure Ruby was childish and impulsive, a dolt all around, but she listened, sort of, and was the only person who seemed genuinely okay with who she was, being able to put up with her without hating her or getting so annoyed that she'd leave. They could get into fights for hours at a time, but at the end of the day Ruby would be quick to apologize and offer up a truce through milk and cookies. It was stupidly childish, but it actually meant a lot to Weiss and she accepted her peace offering every time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :s I have mixed feelings about this chapter, but overall I think I like how it went.
> 
> Tis the end of this alternate reality. Overall, plot wise, it didn't change that much. Just the romance lines really. 
> 
> And yes, I purposefully left Neptune's crush's identity ambiguous (though in my opinion, I made it obvious enough who I preferred his crush to be).


End file.
